Competence of Police Minister under scrutiny

The State Opposition says the defeat of the government's stop and search laws casts further doubt on the Police Minister Rob Johnson's competence.

In a major embarrassment for the government, the Upper House Nationals MPs have announced they will vote with Labor and the Greens against the bill, ensuring it will be defeated.

The laws would have given police the power to search anyone in a declared area without consent or reasonable suspicion.

The Opposition Leader Eric Ripper says the laws were poorly drafted and would not have achieved the intended outcome.

"The government asked the police for this legislation, not the other way around. There's no evidence base for this legislation and that's been revealed so this is a huge blow to the government's law and order politics agenda," he said.

Mr Johnson insists the bill is not dead and is putting it on hold until 2013.

Mr Ripper says Mr Johnson is sounding desperate.

"It reminds me of the black knight in the monty python movie wanting to keep fighting, despite the fact his arms and legs having been cut off," he said.

He says the government needs to re-think its law and order agenda

"The government has deliberately adopted a political strategy of draconian law and order legislation for political reasons," he said.

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.